Disgraced former congressman arrested in Zimbabwae for porn

A disgraced former congressman has been arrested with pornography in Zimbabwae, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Former Illinois Democratic Rep. Mel Reynolds, who was convicted in 1995 of having sex with a teenage campaign worker, was arrested on Monday by police and immigration officials. Authorities of the south African country were looking into the sex offender’s immigration status.

Mel Reynolds

Investigators found the porn at his hotel room, where they said he had a $24,000 unpaid bill, according to the state run newspaper, The Herald. He allegedly brought several models and other women to his hotel room where he took photographs and videos, the paper said.

Reynolds, a former Rhodes scholar, served as an Illinois congressman from 1993 to 1995.

In 1994, he was indicted for sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse for a relationship with a 16-year-old girl. During the trial, the teen victim was jailed for 13 nights for refusing to testify against the congressman. When she finally agreed to take the stand, she told the jury that she had a consensual affair with Reynolds beginning when she was 16. She asked the jury to find Reynolds not guilty.

Reynolds, a Democrat, was sentenced to five years in prison. However, in 1997, he was also convicted on 15 unrelated counts of bank fraud and lying to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigator, resulting in a six-year sentence.